A memory of the sea

We arrived in Bahía Blanca in the afternoon. We settled into the hotel and tried to find out where we could enjoy a day at the beach.

The concierge recommended a spot near the harbor, which he told us was lovely, comfortable for swimming, but had the drawback that it could only be enjoyed during high tide.

We drew up a map so we could find the place. In the morning we found out that high tide would be at 10. We set out with everything we needed, umbrella, chairs, a basket of food... We set off, the map wasn't very clear and neither was my sense of direction.

We arrived at the spot at 10:45, we gathered our things, we had to climb down a staircase carved into the rock. In the middle of these preparations we saw a man coming up dripping with water, drying himself with a towel, and he shouted at us «hurry up, this isn't the Tigre, you're arriving late».

We looked at each other, we went down, there was the sea, right beside us. I decided to open the umbrella and set up the chair for my mother to sit in, since she wasn't going into the water. When I turned around I couldn't believe what I was seeing, the sea had disappeared. My friend took me by the hand and we started running in search of the sea. We couldn't catch up to it. We only saw deep pools full of water, and we thought how dangerous they must be at high tide, when the sea covers them and they can't be seen. A few daring souls were splashing around in them.

We ran without thinking, until we got close to the harbor, in a channel there was an enormous ship, with only 25 cm covered by water. I thought about how much the sea would have to rise for that ship to be able to leave.

It's hard to describe what one feels before the miracles of nature. In school we talk about high tides, low tides, and so on, but we never imagined the speed and the mass of water that shifts in just a few minutes, and the helplessness one feels at not being able to catch up to the water that kept slipping away ahead of us, leaving only pools in a desert. This was an unforgettable experience.